Construction of storage compartments



Oct. 14, 1941. v D. D. s'roRY E-rAL 2,259,007.

CONSTRUCTION OF STORAGE OOMPARTMENTS INVENTOR DANIEL D. STUY CHARLES 0U s SCHLESSER EDWARD E. salia ssa `Oct. 14, 1941. D. D. STORY TAL 2,259,007

CONSTRUCTION OF STORAGE yCOMPAR'IMEN'IS Filed Nov. 12, 19:58 3 sheets-Sheena N .UNHN N INVENToRs sToz CUIT s SCHLESSER CHL SSE l M q oRNEY 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR STOP DANIEL D. Y OHV? RLES CURTIS SCHLESSER ED ARD E.SC' ESSEH r ,4M/fm ATTO EY Oct, 14, 1941. D. D. STORY4 E-r AL CONSTRUCTION OF STORAGE COMPARTMENTS Filed Nov. 12,' 1938 Patented ct. 14, 1941 f"^ Y y d v l 2,259,007

UNITED STAT-ES.. PATENT 2,259,007 if y 1 ooNsTitncfrIoNeF STGRAGE Y ooMraltrMnNrs I Daniel D. Story, Charadesl imtisSchlesser, .and Edward E. Schlosser, Lettland, .Orem

Application November l2, f1938,vSerial-`No.f240,l028

' 5 claims. 550,1. 625-4102...) j

Our invention-relates to improvements 'in cooliing compartmentsprimarily for use meat pack- Aing plants.

The inventionis compri-sedprimarily of a curveying Vmeat carcasses therein vand having super- -posed thereabove a refrigerated chamberthrough which air fis circulated by mechanical means.

*Ih'e air `flows from the `refrigerated chambern lthrough" a partitioned tunnel and from lthere f'is'im delivered into the room inwhich the meat `is disposed 'for curing. 'The partitioned tunnel runs "longitudinally of the room and spaced ports are ,disposed -both above and below the partition int order that the chilled vair to be circulated withindl the meat chamber 4maybe uniformly distributed. `A hood and la skirt are disposed within the :chamber 'to predetermine Athe path of 'the flow of air to 1be circulated.

"The-primary purpose vandobject of our inven-"HQO tion is to 4provide a `meat curing Ychamber in "which `a uniform temperature and a uniform *humidity vmay be maintained during ythe curing pro-cess.

A rstill Mfurther object of our invention is to 'provide Aa `curing chamber for freshly `butchered meat that wil'l'permit a quick liberation ofthe :body temperature and also one `in which meat may be stored for vvlonger periods of 'time `eWith-A out meatlossesor withoutxmeat deterioration.

ri still "further object of our invention is to provide a :curing Ycham-ber in which `the .sweat- "ing of the walls and particularly the ceiling of the chamber will be eliminated.

Anda still'further'object of our invention con-4 'V35 "sists in providing automatic means ,as well as manual lm'eansfor the regulating ofthe `amount of 4air andthe volume lof "ai-r that is to :be vcircu- 'ilated through the curing chamber.

lWiththese and incidental objects in view, the' 40 invention consists in certain vnovel features of `construction and combination of parts, the essenztial elements of which are set forth in .the ap- ',pended claims, anda preferred form of embodi.

"ment :of which is hereinafter shown with refer-"" ing'room having 4means for suspending 4and con-5.55

chamber. Ref-rigerated -coils `with-ina suitable coil box I9 that is superposed over the curing chamber I and refrigerant for 4 `is La fragmentary sectionalside Ivievv r-Ihis viewlis Jmade to illustrate the staggeredrela- "tionsh'ip Aof the port-s through which air Hows from the partitioned tunnel.

Like lreference vcharacters refer to like parte throughout the V`several views.

We provide our curing chamber I `with a bot- -tom 2, Walls 3 and 4 and side nwalls 5 and 6 -andfa primary-top 1. The chamber hasya hood -disposedtherein-that slopes ldownward-ly from the uncture of Y'the'fsidesand-9 of the-hood with the side-Walls I'and II of the air tunnel.

rEhe -tops 8 and '9 of the hood Arun the lfull Vlength of the curing vchamber Aand contact the end Walls 34a-nd 4 of the-chamber. Skirts I2 and I3 depend from the outer edges I4 and -I15of the =h`ood andthe skirts `I2 and I3 also runt-he ful Ylength Jof Ithe curing chamber. Y

The bottoms I6 4and I1 of ytherespective'skirts terminate Y above the bottom 2 of the curing I8 are ldisposed the coils runs through a pipe 20 that leads to a source of cool-ing medium, and the refrigerant flows *through the pipe *250 and the coils 4I8 and 41back to thesource 4of supply of the refrigerant -`back-tothe return pipe 2|.

'The Vair tunnel-runn'ing longitudinally of `the refrigerated chamber is partitioned longitudinally `as 'illustrated at 22 lto divide the air tunnel linto--amuppercompartnfient y23 and alower compartment 24and a bottom -2-5 is disposed for 'closing the lower itunnel 24.

'Air fcr1'-reg-ulating the tempera-ture of the cool- 'in-g chamber iis circulated by a power driven fan 126. The fan '2,5 4is driven by =aprimemover2l by any suitable driving mechanism as through the use of a belt 28. rIfhe airis drawn by the fan through 'the lower compartment 24 of the ltunnel `throughsuitableports '29 that are disposed within -the respective side `walls 'I0 and II of the partitioned 4air Ltunnel andthe air is forced by the Lfan `through 'the -outlet port 30 disposed in the -end Wall 31| of the coil-boXdi-rectly-overfthe coils,

`and Vthe ai-r flows longitudinally of the Vcoil box `and over the vcoils and is -delivered therefrom throughfa eport J32 fdisposedin the-bottom 33 of the coil box. f

"The air `llows vfrom the port 32 directly into 'the upper -air tunnel 2 3fand iiows outwardfthere- `from Itlfirough the `ports l34|A -disposed @within the side Walls I0 and Il, The cooled air then flows outwardly and downwardly through the spaces 35 and 36 that are disposed between the hoods 8 and 9 and the top 1 of the curing chamber and then downwardly through the spaces 31 and 3B disposed between the skirts l2 and I3 and the side walls and 6. Thus the cooled air is vforced downwardly into the bottom of the curing room and then iiows upwardly through its thermal action aided by the suction fan, and flows into the lower air tunnel 24 through the ports 29 and 29A disposed within the side Walls l0 and Il of the lower compartment.

Spring actuated doors 39 and 4 are associated with the respective ports 32 and 30. These doors are intended for predetermining the volume of air that is to be circulated through the curing room. These doors may be actuated by pull cords 4| and 42 or they may be thermostaticallyand automatically actuated by a plurality of thermostat wafers 43. The bottom member of the thermostat wafer has a flanged connection 44 forI securing the same to any suitable fixed support 45 and the upper one of thewafers has aV boss 46 provided thereupon to which the pull cord 41 is attached. This provides thermostatic means for actuating the doors to thereby predetermine the volume of air that is to be circulated through the coil box and through the circulating room.

A plurality of beams 48 run longitudinally of the room and a track 49 is suspended from the beams and a trolley 50 rides upon the track and a hook 5| is provided to which the carcass or partial meat carcass 52 is attached and from which the same is suspended within the curing room. This provides means for suspending the,

carcass or partial carcass and for conveying the same within the room and from the room while suspended. l

While we have here shown our device as being disposed within one room only, it is customary in meat packing plants to have a plurality of adjacent rooms and to transfer meat from one of the roomsl to the other while in a suspended condition. We do not wish to be limited to a single room for our device may be adapted inA which a plurality of adjacent rooms are provided, each of which may be cooled from a coil box associated with the room or from a common coil box not here shown that may be provided at the top and adjacent a number of rooms each being cooled or chilled from a common cooling or coil box.

While the form of mechanismvvherein shown and described is admirably adapted to fulll the objects primarily stated, it is to be understood that it is not intended to conne the. invention to the embodiment herein shown and described, as it is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What we claim is:

`l. A curing chamber for fresh meat, said chamber being normally closed, means for supporting meat in a suspended condition and for conveying the suspended meat within the chamber, a coil box disposed on top of the chamber and running longitudinally of the top of the chamber, a refrigerated coil of pipe running longitudinally of the coil box, an air tunnel disposed beneath the coil box, a partition running longitudinally of the tunnel and dividing the tunnel into upper and lower passageways, a hood disposed within the curing chamber having skirts downwardly depending from the hood and at opposite edges of the hood, and the hood and the skirts being spaced from the walls, roof and the floor of the curing chamber, power means for circulating air from the curing chamber through the lower passageway of the air tunnel into the coil box and for recirculating the air into the curing chamber and means for predetermining the volume of air that is to be circulated.

2. A curing room for fresh meats, comprising a self contained curing room, means for suspending meat within the curing room and for conveying the meat while suspended, means for circulating air through the curing room and for delivering the same at the sides of the curing room and near the bottom of the curing room, means for cooling the air, means for taking the air from the curing room between its sides and near the ceiling, means for predetermining the volume of the air that is to be circulated, and means for uniformly cooling all of the air that is to be recirculated back into the curing room.

3. A curing room for fresh meats, comprising a room, means for suspending meat within the room and for conveying the suspended meat, an air circulator, said air circulator being adapted for delivering air into the room near the floor of the room and at the sides of the room, a hood having skirts associated therewith and so positioned in the room to predetermine the path of flow the air will travel within the curing room, means for delivering air from the room 'near the ceiling of the room and kbetween the sides of the room, means for chilling the air that is to be circulated exteriorly of the room and settable means for predetermining the volume of the air that is to be circulated through the curing room.

4. A curing room for fresh meat comprisinga room, power means for circulating air through the room and for delivering air near the oor of the room and at a plurality of points, means for delivering the circulating air from the room near the ceiling of the room and through' a plurality of ports, means for cooling the air being circulated exteriorly of the curing room, a hood having skirts associated therewith disposed in the curing room and so positioned as to predetermine the travel of the cooled air being recirculated, and automatic thermostatic means for predetermining the volume of air that is to be circulated through the curing room.

5. A curing room for fresh meats comprising a room, a hood having depending skirts disposed longitudinally of the room, with said hood and skirts contacting the end wallsA of the curing room, with the hood and skirts being in spaced relation with the ceiling of the room, ythe side walls of the room and the floor of the room, a tunnel having refrigerating coils disposed therein is superposed over the curing room and runs longitudinally'of the room, a divided tunnel disposed within the curing room and placed below the tunnel having refrigcrating coils disposed therein, ports disposed within the side walls of the divided tunnel to deliver cooled air within the curing room and above the hood and ports disposed within the side walls of the partitioned tunnel to admit air from the curing room into the tunnel and means for circulating air and for predeterinining the volume of air that is to be recirculated.

DANIEL D. STORY. CHARLES CURTIS SCHLESSER. EDWARD E. SCHLESSER. 

